May 1, 2003 -- EVENDALE, Ohio - GE Marine Engines recently tested and delivered the 200th LM2500 aeroderivative gas turbine for the United States Navy's DDG 51 Aegis destroyer program. This milestone represents the most gas turbines GE has built for any U.S. Navy ship class. To celebrate this benchmark, GE Marine Engines held a special ceremony today at its Evendale, Ohio headquarters.
Present at the event were representatives from the U.S. Navy as well as the two shipyards involved in the DDG 51 program, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Miss. and Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine.
During the ceremony U.S. Navy Captain Dave Lewis said, "The long-standing, successful relationship we in Aegis shipbuilding have with GE can be attributed in part to the notable reliability of the LM2500. This gas turbine had a proven operating record aboard other U.S. Navy surface combatant vessels before Aegis incorporated it into the 27-ship CG 47 and 62-ship DDG 51 classes. This gas turbine has also proven to be successful in other U.S. Navy ship classes."
"We are delighted to see that GE continues to invest in technology enhancements for its LM gas turbines, making these engines more reliable and even more affordable for all Navy shipbuilding programs."
"Today's LM2500 is very different than the engine originally supplied for the DDG 51 Aegis destroyer program. GE has spent more than $235 million over the past decade on LM product line research and development, such as hot section materials upgrade and other component enhancements. These improvements have increased the power capability and reliability and helped to keep the LMs on the cutting-edge of gas turbine technology," said Karl Matson, general manager of GE Marine Engines.
"What has not changed, however, is that the LM2500 continues to demonstrate outstanding reliability in demanding marine environments. The LM2500 remains popular, and has been chosen by 29 navies worldwide for use in a variety of propulsion system configurations aboard vessels such as frigates, corvettes, patrol boats and aircraft carriers," Matson added.
GE has delivered a total of 590 (not including spare engines) LM2500 gas turbines to the U.S. Navy, including 108 LM2500s for the Navy's CG 47 Aegis cruiser program.
Other navies have recently selected the LM2500 for novel projects. For example, the Italian Navy will use the LM2500 gas turbine along with GE main reduction gears to power its new Andrea Doria aircraft carrier. Four LM2500s will be used in a COmbined Diesel and Gas turbine (CODAG) configuration.
The Horizon frigate being developed for the French and Italian Navies also will be powered by the LM2500. These next-generation, anti-aircraft frigates each will use two LM2500 in a CODAG arrangement with two diesel engines.
The LM2500 is used extensively in commercial marine projects as well as in diverse industrial power generation and oil/gas applications (see Table 1 for current engine specifications).
Table 1: GE LM2500 Marine Gas Turbine Specifications
Output: 33,600 shaft horsepower (shp)
Specific Fuel Consumption: .373 lbs/shp-hr
Thermal Efficiency: 37%
Heat Rate: 6,860 Btu/shp-hr
Exhaust Gas Flow: 155 lbs/sec
Exhaust Gas Temperature: 1,051°F
Weight: 10,300 lbs
Length: 6,52 meters (m)
Height: 2.04 m
Average performance, 60 hertz, 59°F, sea level, 60% relative humidity, no inlet/exhaust losses, liquid fuel, LHV=18,400 Btu/lb
Deb Case
GE Aviation
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1-859-380-8463